Center Moriches Taxpayers Community Discussion Forum

Nine Long Island public schools and four school districts won a welcome boost in academic status Tuesday, as the state announced a record number of removals from its annual "needs improvement" list.

Yesterday's drop in the number of failing schools listed both statewide and on Long Island contrasted with a sharp increase in numbers announced last year. Local officials attributed gains largely to a sustained effort to provide extra tutoring to struggling students.

Two Island districts and two schools were added to the list.

Among districts celebrating results yesterday was South Country, where both the district and its Bellport Middle School won removal from the "needs improvement" list. Other districts removed included Freeport, Hempstead and Longwood.

"Fantastic!" said Stanley Pelech, principal of Bellport Middle School, about the State Education Department's announcement. To get off the list, Pelech's school beefed up math instruction and instituted quarterly testing to keep better track of students' progress.

"The math teachers did phenomenal work - they really pushed the kids," Pelech added.

Hempstead's Fulton School also obtained removal from the list, as did the district itself. Hempstead's high school and middle school remain in "needs improvement" status from previous years, but district officials say they're making academic progress.

"We're picking up momentum," said Joseph Laria, interim superintendent.

Earlier this month, Albany announced similar reductions in its list of "Schools Under Registration Review," where achievement ranks at the bottom.

The "needs-improvement" list is less dire. But it, too, is based on a complex formula that uses results from last year's English and math tests in grades 3 through 8, and on Regents exams in those same subjects in grades 9 through 12.

Statewide, the number of "needs improvement" districts fell from 68 last year to 61 this year, including five newly added. The number of individual schools listed dropped from 719 to 665, or about 15 percent of the total statewide. Most failing schools are in New York City, which has closed down many and then reopened them under new management.

On the Island, the number of "needs improvement" districts fell from 12 to 10; the number of schools, from 44 to 37.

On the downside, Albany yesterday added the North Babylon and William Floyd school districts to its list, and also Saltzman East Memorial Elementary School in Farmingdale and Clayton Huey Elementary School in Center Moriches.

Some local officials characterized their new listings as aberrations that would be quickly mended. William Floyd superintendent Paul Casciano attributed his district's listing largely to a "coding error" involving a small number of students with limited English skills.

Center Moriches superintendent Donald James ascribed results at the Huey school to low English scores among a small number of special-education students. He added that the school is now intensifying instruction for those students.

In North Babylon, assistant superintendent Patricia Godek said her district's listing stemmed largely from the fact that a group of immigrant students had been taking an elementary test designed for English language learners, rather than the state's regular academic test. To meet state and federal standards, at least 95 percent of students must participate in regular testing.

"We made sure, moving forward, that we don't miss those kids," Godek said.